Trump Blasts Gov. Stitt Over Governors’ Meeting in D.C.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt last week refused to go along with a plan by the White House to exclude two Democrat governors from a bipartisan event in Washington, D.C., raising the president’s ire. Trump took to social media to call Stitt a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) and a “wiseguy.”
Stitt currently serves as the chair of the National Governors Association (NGA), a bipartisan organization which annually meets with the President to discuss issues pressing in their states. However, this year Stitt declined the invitation from the White House for a bipartisan business meeting with the president because the administration made it a point to disinvite two Democrat governors: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
Moore is the only Black governor currently serving in the nation, and Polis is the openly gay governor in the country. However, no specific reason was given for why the White House chose to exclude those two governors from the event.
On Tuesday, when asked why the two governors had been shunned, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump has “discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House.”
Stitt sent out a letter to his fellow governors explaining that the NGA would be withdrawing as the official organizer of the dinner.
“Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program,” Stitt wrote.
He also urged fellow governors not to let Trump’s “divisive action” sway them from their common goals.
“The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve,” Stitt wrote. “America’s governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics.”
After a conversation with Trump, Stitt informed governors on Wednesday that the meeting was back on and that all governors would be invited to the meeting, attributing the dispute to a “misunderstanding in scheduling,” according to a letter viewed by POLITICO.
On Thursday, Trump took to Truth Social to air out his grievance with Stitt.
“As usual with him, Stitt got it WRONG!” Trump wrote. “The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there,” he wrote, referring to Govs. Moore and Polis.
Trump added: “I look forward to seeing the Republican Governors, and some of the Democrats Governors who were worthy of being invited, but most of whom won’t show up.”
In a Thursday morning post, Trump took credit for Stitt’s victory in his last race for governor, writing that the Republican “was massively behind his Opponent in his previous Election for Governor” and “called me to ask for help.”
In the 2022 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, Stitt was re-elected to a second term, winning with 55.5% of the vote and defeating opponent Joy Hofmeister. Hofmeister, the former State Superintendent of Public Instruction, had switched political parties from Republican to Democrat in order to challenge Stitt in the governor’s race.
Trump added: “I Endorsed him (Barely!), and he won his Race.” Stitt is term-limited and cannot seek another term when his current one expires in 2027.
“We will soon have a Governor in Oklahoma who knows how to accurately write a Press Release to the Public, in this case, to state that I invited, not happily, almost all Democrat Governors to the Governor’s Dinner at the White House,” Trump wrote in a Thursday Truth Social post. “Stitt, a wiseguy, knew this, but tried to get some cheap publicity by stating otherwise.”
With regard to the event, Trump wrote Thursday: “I’ll see whoever shows up at the White House, the fewer the better!”